Meet The Candidate: Importance Of Company Discussion & Collaboration

May 1, 2012

3 min read

A few years ago the movie “Meet the Parents” starring Ben Stiller came out. In case you didn’t see it, the film revolves around the disasters occurring when Stiller meets his future in-laws for the first time. As a hiring manager, you need to avoid any similar misadventures in the “marriage” between a qualified candidate and your open position. It’s important job candidates are not only qualified but will mesh well within the company. Candidates that appear great on paper can be all wrong as personality really makes a difference in workplace interactions.

It’s vital for prospective employees to meet with the individuals they will be working with closely. The relationship between coworkers or boss and employee plays heavily into company culture. No matter the skills and qualifications of your candidate, if they have an abrasive personality they might not be worth the investment.

After all a recent study found that companies thriving in this tough economic time were three times as likely to have engaged and happy employees. So it’s important to avoid personality conflicts that lead to bad feelings in the workplace before they even start.

One way to avoid hiring candidates that don’t fit in with the corporate environment is company collaboration. As the hiring manager, you know what qualifications are needed in the position and what personality attributes work best in your corporate structure. People can be tricky, however, and sometimes candidates just won’t mesh with their coworkers or boss. It’s important to get a feel for whether the candidate will get along with the people they will be closely working with. If there is too much clashing you’ll likely find yourself mediating or refilling the position soon.

An easy fix is to make sure the people who will work closest with your candidate have the opportunity to meet the potential hire and conduct their own interview, either in person or through video. If a giant personality clash seems imminent, then you’ve just saved yourself a lot of time and money. Now you don’t need to have the candidate go through an interview with the entire office asking questions. Instead, simply seek the top questions supervisors and coworkers might be wondering, then record the interview to share with those working directly with the new hire.

Allowing future coworkers to partake in the interview process will also create the added benefit of workplace collaboration. Workers will feel more confident about the new employee coming in. They’ll also be likely to feel their input was valued in the hiring process.

Another reason it’s important to work with your company during the hiring process is to make sure you’re familiar with the skills needed. Sometimes companies are looking for technically or digitally savvy candidates. As a hiring manager, you might not be familiar with every platform the marketing, engineering, and digital teams are using. So working together becomes important to know what the company needs. Involving companies or departments in the process allows you to cut down on confusion.

Discussion and collaboration are incredibly important in hiring the right person for the position. No one wants a new employee that doesn’t get along with others. Certainly, no one wants to hire a position only to need to rehire again shortly due to personality conflicts. Keeping departments and coworkers involved in the process is the easiest way to avoid these hurdles on the way to winning the race for talent.

What ways does your company collaborate to hire the best people? Share them!

Heather Huhman

Heather R. Huhman is the Career & Recruiting Advisor for Spark Hire. She writers career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets, and is the author of Lies, Damned Lies & Internships: The Truth About Getting from Classroom to Cubicle (2011), and #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010). Connect with Heather and Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter.

You may also like

As the holiday season bulldozes on finally hitting December, it’s sometimes hard not to feel like Charles Dickens’ infamous boss Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic ‘A Christmas Carol.’ And business owners and...

Way back in 1967, R&B powerhouse Aretha Franklin asked for just one thing: a little respect. Forty-five years and eighteen Grammy Awards later, Aretha has certainly earned the respect she was searching for. But do...

You’ve just finished a great video interview with a top candidate and you feel good about what this individual will bring to your company. You really want to check their references, but you also know top talent like...

The potato. It tastes wonderful mashed, scalloped or fried and is a delicious addition for almost any plate. In the workplace, however, avoiding desk potatoes is essential to keep morale and productivity high. What Is a...